Keeping your clematis contented

NE of the most confusing aspects about growing clematis is knowing how to look after their pruning and training, so as to keep them in good order and at the same time enjoy the greatest possible wealth of blossom. Attempts have been made to classify them into botanical groups according to the dominant parent in their ancestry. Then we say, “Those lanuginosa or some other group must be pruned in such and such a way at such and such a time.” But this really makes matters only the more confusing as most clematis are of mixed parentage and refuse to conform to one group treatment. And the above ancestral names mean nothing to us since their owners have long